PART 16, CHRONOLOGY OF EVEMI'S RX C-AR YEAR I969

A* GeneraJ,. Calendar ye= 1969 can be subdivided in to three major periods as follows:

1, 1 January-17 May D played t o the Western Pacific aboard U d S RhTGER (cvA-61)

2, 17 -11 October Thporarily based st NAS North Is land umdergaing training for deploynrent ,

3 6 1 J+ October-31 December ~dplcryed t o the Western Pacific aboard USS RANGER (cvA-61) ,

B, Detailed Schedule.

1-5 Jan- I n port, SWic Bay, Phiuppine Islarxis

6-43 Jan- ;IEnroute Y-ee Station

8-29 Januarg SPECOPS a t ?ankee Station as a piart of CTF 77

1-8 Febnrasg I n port, SMic Bcqy, P U p p i n e IslPrvis

1 0-6 4 Februaw I n pa%, H d g Kong BCC

14-1 6 Februaky Enroute Y&udfse Station

16 F e b m - 1 5 March SPECOPS a t %ankee Station a s a part of CTF 77

16-19 March WCN t rans i t t o the Yellow ~eq/~peratfon8 i n the Y e l l a w Sea a part of CTF 71

20-21 March Operations fn the Yellow Sea as a part af CTF 71

22-23 March @ICON trans t into the Sea of Japan; CTF 71 Opgr- ations in t t e Sea of Japan

23-24 March B;nrate YokQsukao Japan

! 24-30 Maroh I n pwt, Yol+osuka, Japan I 1 31 March-5 April Enrate Yanqee Station. TYT 1 . ing

I O W - 3 Damgradad at 6% year D E C L A S ~

1 internale; not ~ o p y n o . ~ 2 ot 5 \ autcxnatically declassified

5-1 5 Awfl SPECOPS a t tankee Station

416-1 9 April Enroute Sea, of Japan i n conjunction with USS R?TH1PRISE, USS TICOMlHiOGA, and USS HORNET as a result of the dawning by the Kcrreans of an E6-121 r e c o ~ s s a n c e drcraf t

20-26 April CTF 71 operations in the Sea of Japan

27-30 April Enrout e Subfc Bay

30 April-3 May In part, S@%c Bay

16 May Fly-off of huadron aircraft t o NAS North Island

R d n j n g sqluadran personnel arrive NAS North Islard

Squadron equipnent snd personal belongings arrive NAS berth ~ s h d

46 *-I Jplly nt leave period. Start retraining

10-11 July Operation Beagle Baron

15 JW Operati on ~ h a g l e Baron

a JuaY Change of C & m n d

1% .August Caquals US$ RANGER

25 A a ~ g u s t Oarquals US$ RANGER

28 August Carquals US$ RANGER

3 September Casquals US$ RANGER

2 September C a m

6 2-6 6 September USS RANGER in port Alaneda. Squadron afPcrafL at NAS NmtB Island far pre-ORE maintenance.

16-24+ Septder Operational Readiness Evaluation

2 SECRET

DECL ASSIFlEb autasnaf isally declassified

19 September F i r s t squ%dai.on a i r c r a f t t o NAS Pt. Mugu for SPRA installatian.

24 September- Squadron complete prep- 10 October SPRA installation i n

crew training a t Pt. Mugu.

1I 1 October Fly-away of ' squadron a i rcraf t t o NAS Alameda for loading USS wm.

I 1-13 October I n p ~ r b Ahaeda

I4 October Depart for western Pacific aboard USS RAN= it

I&-2.3 October Enroute Hawaii, and TYT in Hawaiim Op Area.

October I n portS P e p 1 Harbor

25-27 October Operational I Readiness Inspection

27-29 October I n port, P e e l Harbor

29 October- Enmute Subf c B a y 9 N o W e p

9-1 3 November I n port, Su$ic Bay, Philippine Islands

14-16 1Yowmber TYT SuMc Op Area; enroute Yankee Station

17 Movembe~ SPECOPS at Yankee Station 6 Demmber

6-8 Decenber -oute S&$c Bay

8-11 6 December In port, %bfc Bay

9 "6-1 8 D e c d e Woapte Yankee S t a t i m

18-13! December SPECOPS at Yankee Station

BART ,II, SWW OF CLE29)AR YEAR 9969

A . Gaaale Carrier Airborne l y Warning Squadron HUNDRED FIFTEZN was assigned operati mally t o Attack T' m i e r A i r Wing TWO srd was deployed t o the Western Pacific aboard USS RANGXEi (CVA-61) &om 1 January through 67 May and $ran 14 October through 31 Decemb+r, The interim period was spent tempor- wily bas& ashore at Naval. Airso Stat$.&, North Island, S m Disgo, Califorria mdexogdng $raining for deplopmnt. 'he squadron was canmanded by Canmander

PART PIe SUIQURY OF (XLENDAR PEAR (c/QMC VD) - - ~ E C L AssmEo JaSm% GARCIA. u n t i l 24 July, when he whs lleleived by Commander Frederick P a s s H u m ,

3, Gamposition. Three E-2A !'Ha eyeB1 aircraft, Bureau Numbere 159 71 2, 7 5171 63 and 151 717 were assigned for p he entire year. The fouPth aircraft, 1505339 was transferred in July and replaced with 151714, Twenty-one officers were assigned, The breakdown of t en ktsiatms, ten NM)s and one g r o w maint- enance t p remained essentLally constant. An average of one hundred ten enlisted personnel were assiped, of which six t o eight a t a l l times doubled as maintenance technicians ard airborbe Flight Technicians.

6. Z&ission, The basic mission of the squadron is t o provide Airborne Early Warning coverage on a continuou basis aml t o make this information readily available t o the CTF Cammande through the ATDS data l ink system. T h i s miss i~n was modified in l a t e S e p t d e r t o include the control of Special Purpose Reconnaissance Aircraft (SPRA) . The tac t ica l call&.@, "Bel- EkpressSb was subsequently assigned this mission,

1, Statistice. Only tot& operational. s t a t i s t i c s far the y1ea.r we given here, These are broken d m by month o r operating period i n the detail- ed narrative.

T a b b 1 Aircraft Custody

Aircrat't Bureau Number

Opera Tab8 ons

Total amt ies Flight Hows Cwrier landings Daybight Aircraft incidents Aircsrax% ace5dent s

Custody Dates

1 Jan-2Jt Jul 1 Jan31 Dee 29 Jul-34 Dee 1 J a m 1 Dec 1 Jan31 Dee

650 1970.8 ,37211 94 None None

% OperationaUy Ready % NOR Scheduled Maintenance $ N a R Unscheduled Maintenance P ~~ sway % NORM Awaiting HQUS % l?KC Unscheduled Maintenance $ mIC NEE 5% A w a i t i n g Maintenance

Blad~r conversions and r n ~ f i c a t i o n s o AJ.l Squadron a i rc ra f t were modified i n Late September srd early October for the eontml of Special Pw- pose Recas&samce Aircraft (EZRA). Prior to deployneat, i n October, afl &rp,~a.% were oonf:f p e d with E-2 pro%otype ASW-25 equipenti f ap° Mode 2 ea,r- %seer Landing approaches,

ae Gwualties of men and eeUr.mmto None.

40 0 Undw the direction of LCDR Po D. IDGAR, prototype Mod AI4-91 %age f Ed* instaJJat ion6 were completed in dl sq-m ai.rcra.f%, VAW-115 then wote, printed, and presented the pro- ps& f i r e r& Service Change %or ALQ+9l t o highe%. authority.

5,, A W ~ B and C d a t i o n s 4 One Bronze S t a r O one Vietnamese UP GaXlantry Medal, forby-one A2L.r M e d a l s g four Navy Conrmsndlatf on Medals, a h Navy Aehieenent bIed%ls, and six Letters of Cammerdaunn were awarded VAW-195 personnel subsequent to 17 Mv and %W completion of the 6 968-1969 WestPae p Additional awards ba~re been rec~mmended far the period 14 October- 3% Deceglber and w i l l be reported in 1 WOO

a, VAW squadron t o install and operate AEI4 a - 9 1 4

bo F%kst VAW squadron tq operate w i % h ASW-25,

c:, Only Navy squad~on q q a . U e d for SPRA control4

PARS :€IX, D E T U m NARRATIVE OF CALE2lDAR YEAR 1969.

Ae Genem4, Carrier Airborne &by Warming Squadron CNE HUNDRED FIFTEEN was c-dd by 6-as JaSme GAWW (Annex A) until 24 July, when Cry~)~~ndm & d e ~ i c k Basil H W C K (Annex B) assdmed c m , Essentially, Colmnandru~ GARCIA had e-d during the 1968-69 WestPac deployment and d d n g the postl- deplqmmt learn p r i d e G ~ w H@LIcK assumed c o d of t h e squadsoln for the pmdep&oyment training cycle dind during the 1 969-70 deplopnt , ard subsequent. VAkl-11fj was based aboard USS RANGER (CmV~41) as a part of A%t,sek Carrier Air Wing WQ w i t h the exeepkicln of the period 1% May-5 Septeaber and 24 September-10 October, DurAng these periods the squadron underwent train-

DECLASSIFIED

DECLASSIFIED b g temprdu based at NAS North E s nd, The squadron reported dually t o CaMATIC6-\9NC IWO atrl Camamier C a g e r b b m n e Early Warning Wing T h standard cr@aati onail structure (Annex @) fo r aviation commands was maintained by VAW-1% 5 thougho6ct; %he An average of twenty-one o f f l c e ~ s (Annex D) end one hundred ten enl is t E) were assigned. Twenty-six ( ten ~ T ' ~ % O P S ~ ten NIOa, s ix m g h t Technicians) flfm crew personnel. can- prised f ive c m s for eonthuous operation of four E-2A aircraft. (Table 1). One gaooeznd maintenance o f i 5 . c ~ was asgigned with the exception of the p&cd 3 Sep%d~-2"807~embe~, VAW-115 p l ed a conthuingly active ro le i n fuP- thering AEM through bhe developnent new equipents and tactiee. Signifi- cantly the label. as the "Idea Squadronft resulted from the leading role in the developen% of the quiprre3lt and tact4.6 s associated with the AEW modefi cation of t h e ALQ-91 e+1ez%pmsnt for E-2 use, Marscope photograpby uti l izing the tripod b t r o d u c d by YAW-1 15 made readily available the @vantages of U-91. Tactic 9 were devised, psackLceci, 8td wed under actual4 n d i t l i g l ~ for the PGON bmch and recovery of 6VA aircraft with tm rPA a s the controlling agency. Project SPM (,~pedaL gdurpos$ Reconnaissance Ai,mraf%) was assigned t o VAW-? 15 l a t e in %he re%sWng cyeh, A U &crafi were configwed a t BIAS point Mw9 and f l igh t e m were trained a t Ryan kl.rcraft Corpcration, S a Diego d at P o h t M w , Add$t%Ondll;yg VAW-115 mQte the service change, a;nd b e a m the f i r s t YAW squadron t o depbq with the ASW-25 Mode I1 6 m f er Landing System opera%&xml,, A detailed narrative follgws by operating per%cd QP month as dictated by the squadrmvs ~ ~ h d d s ~

Operational t a t i s t i c s " Fl ight hours Day/Nigh% 196e5/1k7e0 6-iw 3zmm1gs ~ay/bJighb b5%/41 Swkf es Assigned 83 Sorties can2elled, drcrafb clown 9 Sorties emoeUed, &P Qpera$ions 0 & aboms 2 Intarcepbs eontraUd 71 Suecsasful Link 9 4 Time %2009

The period 1-5 d~~ a s spent i n rt Splbic BagO Philippines, FMLP was eorduc%ed a% NAS GuBf Point on 3-4 J 3 uary in preparation for upcoming night deck erne, Initid, night qdificat.+L#ns were cap le ted on LTJG G, G, tllEAWR

LTJG d o C o MANSTROM on 6 Januaqo UJG WEAVER canpleted CAPC ciualifica- Mom l a t e r in %he mon%Be SPECOPS a& ~ a d c e e Stat5 an were colrdwted during the pezzcd 8-30 January; 30-31 J a n q were spent transiting t o Subie Bayo Mid- night-to=-noon operations were c d u c t e d 16-30 January, Tactics for ut i l f i ;hg the 6-2 dawing EM60N W A conditions lire= devised and practiced during this SEECOBS ~ r i o c b e n e s e indude$ (1) $mly launch at" t h e B-2 t o a l l o w time $tar stat&oni.ng (2 ) A O ~ Q F caie8 wine; the f m a t of True Track IFF codes,

. PART In, D~~ NAItJUW OF CALENDAR YEAR (CONTQD)

/ DECLASSIFIED S E ~

for use rfn, vectming sezoz~e.r.sirag aircraft under sIoP/GON eondftims (,3) Use of' the continuous transmit rather than picket mode of Link I t opera- tion, wherein the $-2 is the only actircre emitter in the !IDS net (4) Single l e t t e s cdes, eeans.tmcc$& of Link 11 t&mbolso which are then t rmsBlitte8 via Link 1 9 to convey messages adapted to the indind~ual situation and (9 The use of TDS t r a c t nmbers t o represient pe-designated geographic points for B.2 positioning as a navigation did for the CVA. During this pe r id , U D R P, D, EDGAR h t d u c e d the cones& of radarscope photography utfUei.ng a $ripoc€ mufac tumd at UC Point T h i s tfipsd i s readily adaptable t o 3- or p01~0i .d cameras, and poTPitied much-needed Uasion infomatian concerning the results and sapabiJ..ikieB of' the AlQ-91 'Sager EkdH equipment [Annex F). Little progress m a made Link U use due ts t h e inabil i ty of' the ship t o aaappt or pegair the ;6w -1 system, ALppcra.ft readiness for this pecLsB averaged 5 7 e S e MCRS 'Lime averaged 2&,%, largely due t~ the transfer of &reraft 15l?l% to G-3 reporting 8b%w for repair of' the h t w d cap s%rip a the stwbsd re& Wing spar, NORM t h e awraget% lyol+$ due the infl ight s d m e aaad idecouplhg of the starboard engine 0% 150533 or, 22 January, This: aircraft made tka, nq$t bol%era in% s&tempc$- ing t~ recover which p r o d & unwanted but useful i n f o ~ t & o a n regarding dngle-gngine ehmacteristAes of the $2, VAW-115 S%lfe%y lR/~ncideat. Re- ports 00%/2-691 apply, MIL-L-7808 eqgime o i l was in short supply during Ws p e r i d , MIL-L-236- o i l was detdmined not f o be a suitable substi- tute, IF'F Rnwgeney f l a k s n k2ts were deceived a d installed In dl zquadmn d ~ ~ ~ a % $ e

Operatimil Tabll tati s t i c s

T h per5ai 1 4 Febmm was spent i n port a t Subic Bay, PMIipphesr ~ a y / nightq FMW was condu~&Bd on i.1-=6 P e b m y i n mtic;ipa.t%on of the u p m h g Long lay-sff % ~ m operations, USS MlIGZ8 a,~riv& in B a g Klang2 BCC on 10 February ard depa~%ed on the 15th, SPECOPS a t Yankee Station were than conducted from 16 Febmmy-15 &Larch, ado new problem areas were mcomtered duping t h i s Une period, U n u s w fine f l y ing weatha- for the G u l f 0% Ton- kin e ~ a s d during this penod of operat,fons, and provided training andl pat- %ice h dl-weather flying p ~ o c ~ ~ e s , Continued emphasis was pla,ced on EMCON (UP Up) PFOC&UX'~S in psepi~:aat&m fw upcaning opm%ians, During

PART 111, ~ A I U D NARJiAm OF C

4 - .

the period 16-69 March, RANGER transited fiam Yankee S t z t i on t o the YeUm Sea under FEICCN conditions with the exceflon of a perid f o r a one-time f l ight of four E-2 aircraft for eqxignent checks, EMCON flight operations wwe cmdwted i n the YeUow Sea on 20-241 Mar&, cons.t;ftuting %he f b s t e a r f e r operations i n these waters since t h e Korean conflict , Weather eon- tiitions precbuied wholescale tesking d Zip Lip pro~edures ard forced the bingo of two squackon &craft to Kmsm AFB, Korea on %he morning of 20 March. Flight operations were mndwbed in t h e Sea of Japan cm 22 March foUowing an BIGOM t r ans i t f mm the ~ d U o w Sea, The ship arrived a t Yok- osuka, Japan on 2%, Marcho Aircraft reiadiness for the month of February decreased $0 541 e% and then rose t o 7de11% in March, NORM time decreased to 5 ,l3$ in Peb;kblw due to m aircraft being inducted in to eaJendar hsp- e c t i m a T h i s h i m then rose! t o 1&3,6% $w March, NCRS time f o r February increased t o due t o %he inav-uty of a TIT h d i c a t o ~ , then de- crease$ t o 3 6 , s in M w h when these Wts became av-a-iWle, The exbrae a d d weakher enmblaats~ed in the PeU& Sea and Sea 02 Japan operations Broughti t o light E-2 p m b l w lx be antiidpated in $he f u % w in ( I ) the slm5nkhg and cracking of kgxkaulic s e a o (2) problem due t o shrinkage in the main landing gear d~vmlo& h%ch mechanism, and (3) vapor cycle p ~ o b l a w which e d not be detecbed prior t o f U g h % * The squadmnqs fourth sircraft was on bad during this period of cold weather operations for the first t,ime during the dsplop&

Flight hours scheduled Hours fLgksn

Sorties assigned. Sor-bBes flm Totsta. interceepts Link 9 1 time

The period 24-30 March was spent i n .$ ea$ Yo%(oauka9 Japan. Eraroute %o Yankee Staaon, type training c o n e a t % of a missilex wLth the E-2 a s ccn- trsU- agency was emdwteii in W-dy$ east of Okinawa on 2 A p i l , SPECOPS at Xankee Station were condmted 5-15 A p r i l d t h no new p b b m wisingo Subsequent to the North Korean downin$ on 1 5 April of an unamed E6-I 21 rec&ssanee &craft, CTF '71 was fbsmed with RANGER a pr%%cfpant, T h i s force transited north, cmdue%ed opsar~imal equipment checks south of Korea on the 20th entered the Sea of" Japan on 21 A p ~ u e FU@t saperati- were conducted 2% -25 April, RAN= detached. fm CTF 71 on 26 A p r i l and pzo- seed& t o $&ic Bay f o r the find off'-load, of anmmitim and spares i n prep- ma~an. f o r the $msL% ta CONUS, This was completed on 3 M a y , Operation& ~e&ess f ~ r April decreased t o 5 0 o $ a NORM Increased ko 22.@ due t o a calendar inspection on $50533 and down t h e on $ 5 1 712 which resulted

DECLASSIFIED

PART DEI'AED NARRATIVE OF YEAR (CONTUD)

%lxlaw

a flight deck c m c h of the por t ou tbwd vert ical fin, The period 4-16 M g was s p a t in transit , Fine% aiakcrafk corrosion controL, touch-up painting, and equipnent checks were made i n pse aration for fly-offo wMagic Carpet* personnel remained a t Cubi Point, & eeeeded the aqvadron to NAS North Is- 1.- to make preparations for the r e t . Sixbeen KAW-9 1 5 personnel return- li- ed via this means. Five first-cruise NFOs, one pilot, the Ground Mainten- ance Officer, and nine enlist& made the group, which depaPted G h k AFB on 8 May. ALL four s g u a h n aircrat"t departed RANGHI, at approxKmately 1000 on 16 May arid a_mimd at NAS North Island at 1300 local the.

This period was designated official ly fo r post-deployment leave, Up t o thi r ty days were approved for ~ 5 . r t u a U . y a U rsonnel who requested i%. D ebarkatf an f m RANGER was completed on the aft, $= noon of 17 May, Personnel were then air-- lifted t o U S North Island, No Might Check maintenance crew was maintained during this p e r i d , and the wsrkiay w$s modified t o canmence at+ 0830 t o cofn- cide with the h d m e Q pace of opera&ms, Flight operations consisted d.- most ~ l ~ t s i v e ~ y ox area f a i l i a r i z a an, instrument training and cross coun- tr ies. A5xeraft 151732 was Lnducted 4 .nto Progressive Aircrafi Rework (PAR) at NAS Nokts Island on 20 May, Ucr4$ t . readiness fo r M a y was 6 @ , IdOIPI time decreased t o 1'8,,1$, & C E O ~ re&e$s for June reflec.$%el the skawdgwn in operations at 41 1%. A oaltmdar f nsp$cGian a r . mid-%our corrosion control on aircra2t 15171 6 ecmtsibuted &&f$cmt*e NCEgiil Mme increased t o 27.05% as a result of persomaad on leave atxi in school, NmS time increase t o 25.s.

The tempo of caperat~sns began t o incr ase during Q.TuQr, as training for deploy- ment i n October got aande.may. The of " d a l post.-dbepllgyrnmen% leave pwfd endad on a5 J U l y e A lar~ge number 0% mai.nt a a m e pe~sonnel were no$ ib9paiI.abae f ap squadron &craft maintenam e due t o ehooling mqui,scment s a VAW-1 I 5 parti e- i p a t d in operation Beagle Baron 10-1 July as a rn of Orange Paces ePr%E- mthg USS CONSTEUATION (CTllb-64). E L j ' d n g effects om the E-2 APS-96 ~ a d s b z ~ were evaluated during this exerkise, Broadband noise of a lw power bevel (1~115 db above radar receiver hoise) was emle~a.f,d t o be exbremlgr ef-

D E C L A ~ F ~ PART 1x1, DE2AIIS) NARRATIVE OF CALENDAR YEAR (CONT~D)

fective against- the E;-2 system due ( 1 ) t o the poor side-lobe characteris- tics of the APA-143 mtodame antenna, (2) the employment of brad-bad Limitiing in the APS-~6 receiver, and (3) due to the meechanizat&on of the APS-96 AMTI cis?d,trge FMLP tjr.- was conducted 17-21 July, with c%14- quals on W G E I b on 31 July, Addiffan@ training on NFOa still in BVAFi-910 was aewmpljsshed in swan aiPerad'G due t o U t e d RAG akcra fb availa- bi l i ty . Cornmendm Frederick Basil H M L I C K assumed commard of the ~uadron on 2%. July in cesemcdes whish commenced a t 1300, Captain R. E, CyAMBElUUN, (=ammnnder Gamier Airborne Early W a m h g Wing ELEBEM, delivered the guest speaker's addresso Cammder Fleet San Diego and 6-w Attack 6- Aes Ab W i n g N O were bn attendance a am ex G) dbiPcrafL readiness for July increased %o 541 .a0 NQBi tihe a d not change appreciablyo nor did NORS t h e o Aircrafi 150533 was t r a n a % & ~ d %o RIM-1 IQ on a Ja%b6y in an effort t o bo.later thei r t r a , ~ ~ a p a b f U $ r ~ Abcraf% 15l71.4 was acoep%ed f r o m VAW-I12 on 29 July,

Table 9 Operational $ ta t is t ic s

Flight ~ O U S ~w/hQhb; 9#'28e8 C a ~ " ~ e r landings ~;ay/hight 4 71% 5

FMLP and ea4~quil.s dominated pilot training in August, Deck time was utU.5- zed on RAElGER on Id, 25, and 28 Augusk, Additiondl NFO tr&ning of officer personnel in RVAW-110 was aecampfished, Aircraft I 51 79 2 was accepted f ran PAR on 22 August0 &craf% readiness for August was 5k03go NORMtfme in- creased t~ 25,@ due to requbemen%s $or comcsim control and pe.rsonn& being i n schoolo NORS time decreased t o I6*3;% due to canni.baUza%f on of a i rcraf t 156 76& slrhich was out of a re@ reporting status during eomosim control,

M, 6 Sep-er-13 October,

Table 18 O p e r a t i d $ta t is t i e s

Busing this period, the squadron capabeted p m - d e p 1 o . t t r d d ~ , inspee- tions, and mved & o d USQ RANGER in preparation for deploymen1 on 9 4 . Oct- ober, C a r q u s l , ~ were conduct& on 3 Septembar, Significant is the fact that a l l day and night pilot qualifications were completed p ~ i o r t o deployment, a factor contsibubing greatly t~ ove rd l squadron readiness and t o schedul- ing fbexibildty, The squadron moved Bboard. WEEB fcr the p e r i d 5-24 Sep- tember, A maintenance detachment was m a i n t a d a% NAS Nwth Island far

PART MI. DE3'AIUZl NARRATIVE OF CALENDAR YEAR (CONGUD)

d emergency repairs only, The COMTUEXB i n preparation f o r the ORE, was held in the SoCal ope~at ing a e a 8-1 1 Septenber, During Wfs p e r i d AEW, s t r ike control, missileu, control, intercept contml, and SAR coordination a g h t s were conducted. RANGE2 spent, She period 12-1 6 September in pork Illmecia, Squadron a i rcraf t . were flown to NAS Narth Pshndp along with a t e m c e personnel, for final upkeep prior t o the ORE. Operation BELL FXFmSS, RANGER and CVW-2o s ORE, was conducted i n the SoCd operating area during the pwiod 16-24 September, Prior operating t b w had indicated beyond sny- doubt + k t RANGEB was incapable of supporting the E-2 duping the ORE due to Lack 016 parts, t e s t equipnent, and IMA support facfUt ies , VAW-1115 attanpted t o operate who- f m on board MIGW d d n g this cwcsrcise despite t h e law- ledge that support for squadron aircraft would f a i l rapidly, This was done in an e f fo r t %Q give the ORE an oppor=bunity t o bring to l igh t the t rue short- ccnnings which would have nut been ap ent had a major beach detachment for maintenance been mafntained at North 7 s h d , The squadron grade of a.90 on the ORE ref lec t& t o a great actera the shipfis capabil i t ies or Sack of, During this period Project SPRA (Spec 1 Purpose Reconndssance &craft) was shifted t o VAW-115 f o r aafzLon, T s was brougk about a s a result of the decision t o mothball USS BENNINGT f N, which had heretofme been the pro- ject ship in conjunction with VAW-11 I det 209 flying E-1IB &craft,, The first squadron aircraft was flown t o I$AS Pt. Mugu on 19 September fo r SPRA equipnent ins ta l la t ion a d wiring, F ur squadron CICOs (Dl% Po Do EDGAR, LT Ho E. LOVEJOY, LTJG Po R o SAUERlb6: dYldLTJGRo W e MCNULTY) c - ~ n ~ d training at, Ryan Corporation, San Dine i o on 20 S e p t d t w , The remaining air- craft, m e cycle8 through Pt. Mugu on a four day ins ta l la t ion eyele which was completed on 92 October, Operational 02 the hs%aU.ation i n each air- craft with the exceptLon ~f the bast $151 71 ?] were completed, ARC0 (Airborne Remote Control officer) t raining w a s Gonducted a t Pt* Mugu i n actual drone control, utilizing the squadron. d r c r + f t a s SPRA i n s t d l a t i o n s were completed. F'inal preparations fo r deployment were cmpleted during the period 1-64 Oct- ober, Awards cmanonies were held on 1 and 8 Septmber f o r %he presentations of awards a e c m u l a t d f m the 1968-69 deploymat, Most noteworthy was LOR EDGARts receipt of the Branze S ta r $oaS his contributions b AaJ i n the dearel- o m $ of the AEW AIL)-91 WEager Ed@ m$dificatf m, On % 0 Oetobe., squadron equipnent, pe.ssond gear, and personnel with the exception of f l ight crews were loaded and moved enroute NAS Uarpeda for embarkation, T h ~ e e d r c m f b a d crews departed a t 11 OOO sn % 4 0cto$es, The fourth ai~cra,Ptn, completing SPRA, instal lat ion, proceeded t o Alame.#a on 93 October, Embarkation was em- plete by 13 October i n preparation foi. a 14 October dep&ure f o r WesWae* Aircraft readiness fo r September incr$ased t o 68,@, NORM time decreased t o Ze$. Aircraft 151 741 7 was grounded 2-1 0 September f o r inspection and cor- rosion control, par% of which was outbide squadron eapahil i t ies fop repair,, T h i s a i r c r m was subsequently groundgd fo r stripping and painting fPcm 49 September-? October. f t should be noted here tha t cor~osion control p~oblems which would l a t e r prove of major conc+rn and greatly influence E-2 performance were at this t h e becachg appa%m%, NORS h e f a r September deereased t o 96.3% due t o a special suppJy a s s i s t becessitated by the cammibent of VAW-145 to Project SPRA immediately before deployment, Gannibdization of abcrafa, not in a ready reporbing s ta tus also bontr ibutd %a decreasing NORS time,

GROUP-3 Downgraded a t 12 year

intervals; not aut amtisally declassified

I tl - DECL ASS1 NED

I. 14 Octsbek-8 December,

Table 11 Qprati ondl ~$atist,icia

Hours s&dded/~lown 2550%/15&e9 Sorties scheduled/~%om 79/56; AW Coverage sch&uled,/Flm 223,0$'~30.,0 Carrier landings ~ay /~ i . gh t %8/1 $1

WEZt departed fiameda for WestPae oh 114 October a f i e ~ %49 days in CONUS, Type trainsing was conducted in %he H a w a i i operating area 6 8-23 Qcb;obwo During this pef id the f3,rst SPRA Launch was conducted. The Operational R W n e e s Inspection (OU), conducted 25-2"10ctobe~., brought t o li&t the soundness of squadron thi-ng during the ORE. With many of RANGERns pre- vious shortcomings e-td, iBndt t h o u & a maximum effort by the squadron Maintenance De t, a mark of 9as&9 was achieved, This mark represents the highest ever awarded a TAW squ&oaa. RANGER departed Pear1 Harbor for Subic BayS Philippfnes on 29 October, A i r c r a f t readiness fop October de- creased sUght&y t o 66$, NORM time increased t o 37.8% due to calendar in- spections, paint/corrosion control, atrd SPRA bnstaElaticon, NORS time de- creased t o 1.5% due t o high priority ven the squadr~n for NORS A and NORS N items prior t o deployment.., The tr Elf sit t o WestPae continued through 8 Novembea~, and RANGER arrived in Subf s Bay on the %he FMLP was conducted during the inpP% p e r i d 9-13 Novanbe$, Befresher landing practise and a misailex w m conducted while enroute Yankee Statf on, SPECOPS as a part of CTF 7 M t h CWCARD1VTHR;EE embarked were conducted 17 Novembe~-6 December* During this period operational 5PR.A testing aaad ev&Lu.a%f an ~ommenced with f ive hunches conducted, In-fU,ght rbcwer~y of the drone by US A i r Force MARS helos pmlred highly suecessfiil a@d subsequently proved Lo be of great sj,gnifimce in heseasing the fife of the SPU vehicles, The f b s t two weeke. of operations were conducted. wikh m e E-2 Aorebased, Shipboard op- erating pdisy and deck loding; was then m d f i e d t o &Uow the fourth air- C F ~ $ $ ~ aboard, a situation which remind unaltered t o the end of the yeax, With CC&iCARDITl assistance, f l ight desk handling and operating procedures were altered t o permit, vastly b o ~ e a s e d f lexibi l i ty in the operation 0% the 2 Dur ing this perid, the f i r a t of many problem meas peculiar t o the 32-2 &craft, xna+,erii&Lized to hinder operations, Wing fold d m 1 joir~ts, prexi.ousu sight, inspected in PM, began t o f a i l and a sudden increase in propeller failures O C C U F P ~ . A d d i % ~ ~ p d J y ~ a revised Maxfmbun Operating Time (Mm) was estabUshd for E-2 gap~pUers, Fom props were changed h a three we& pet5.A sa a rzsklt~, mkraft readiness p r a c t a b v &rapped t o 3 8 , s far M O V ~ W , NORM k.he inc._~ea/s& t o 40,2$. Hydratilie fd%urea he%- ped increase this s%atbstie in addit%iQEn t~ the items mentioned allpl.edye NORS time incpeased from 1,5$ t o 21 .$!. The Personnel QuUficatfon Stand- ards Program9 instit9uted just prior t;b depl~ymerat, improw& skeadily des- pi te the increase in tempo 02 operat , i ,~n~ and persome% mrlcing outside t h e i r shops. Qveapaafl, squadP"0~1 q ~ f i c a t d o b rose to 36.3%* RANGER a r ~ f ved NAS Cub% P a t , Subf c Bay, PUXppines on 8 December. A b s s i l e x was conduc.tbed

GRWP==3 Downgraded at 62 year

intemLs; not a u t w t i c w dechssificed

PAR!I! UI, DETAILED NARRATTVE OF c&AR YlWt (coN'EOD)

J. 8-31 December.

Table 12 Operational $tatist . ic a

Hours scheduled/~lown Hours AEW Coverage Hours Link 11 Carrier landings ~ay/Nig.M

The period 8-15 December was spent 5x1 port SPrbfc Bay, Philippines, SPECOPS at Yankee Station commenced on 18 Decwber and continued through the end of calendar year 1969, Seven successful SPRA f ~ & ~ a . a were conducted, dur5ng which the capability of the E-2 t o c o q t d the drone t o i ts Initial P o h t well wi th in the accuracy limits requiped was establishedb Glide slope sms- i t i v i t y problems previ~us,ly encountered i n the AW-25 carrier landing system were corrected, fircraft readiness f& December increased t o 55,s. NOW time decreased t~ .30,2$, bat remained high due t o propeller p rob las pre- v ious ly mentioned, NORS time decreasM t o Ik.l%. Once again, c d b a J i z - ation t o meet c ~ ~ t s aeeo~m.t,ed, for the decrease in NORS, Problems en- countered in d rc r a f t wiring not n o w inspected or repIcb~ed d u i n g PAEb began t o show up as another E-2 problem area. SPEGOPS continued at Yankee Station past 31 December, in to calend&r year 1970,

GROUP-3 Downrned at 12 ;yew ' i n t e m 1 s ; n ~ t auk omaticaaly declassified

t